HDHomeRun Channel Mapping Tool beta

[whurlston]

Here is a utility to automatically map your BDA channels if you have an HDHomeRun. It will map any ATSC/QAM tuner but you need to have an HDHomeRun. HRC channel mapping is not supported yet. If someone can send me a DigitalCable.xml and a scan cache file for HRC, I can add it.

To use:

1. Configure your capture source and EPG.
   
2. Perform a scan in GBPVR config and exit the channel mapping window.
   
3. Perform a scan in the HDHomeRun Setup.
   
4. Enable the channels that you want to map and disable those that you don't.
   
5. For the "Guide Name" in the HDHomeRun Setup, enter the "Channel Name" from the GBPVR capture source configuration screen.
   
6. Apply changes and exit HDHomeRun Setup.
   
7. Exit the capture source configuration in GBPVR Config (you don't need to exit config completely but you can).
   
8. Run the utility and select the lineup on the left you plan to use (Antenna or Cable).
   
9. Select the tuner on the right that you want to map.
   
10. Click "Map Channels to Guide".
    
11. Edit the capture source configuration to verify that the channels were mapped.
    

A warning will appear if a channel match cannot be found between the HDHomeRun scan and the GBPVR scan. This is common on channels that only display a static image.

You can select "Save scan cache" if you want to update the scan cache entries with the channel name and guide numbers in the HDHomeRun lineup but it is not necessary. You can also limit the scan cache to only unencrypted channels.

The left pane will show the HDHomeRun lineup. Checked entries are the channels that are enabled in the lineup.

The right pane will show the updated scan cache entries for the selected channels.

[wtg]

I finally got around to using this last night and I found it a bit confusing, I think only due to a lack of explanation on what exactly it does. At first blush I thought it was going to keep me from having to scan in gbpvr, but of course the instructions immediately dispel that thought. So let me summarize what I think it does.

The utility simply matches up the channel scan results from the HDHomeRun's setup utility to the scan results in gbpvr, presumably saving me the hassle of having to associate the gbpvr channels with the scan results, one at a time.

How exactly is this working? Does it match simply based on channel name, or is it matching based on sequence, or a combination?

One of the problems I have is that channel names are kind of kludged up in the EPG. The Schedules Direct lineup returns channel names that don't quite match what the HDHomeRun sets them to, and my cable co. has renamed and moved channels around a number of times, and old channel names hang around in the channel list if you've recorded something off it even if it's not in the EPG anymore. So matching the correct and current EPG channel names to the scan results is a bit of a problem for me anyway, and I'm not sure that I have them right on both tuners even now, so it would be helpful to know how the utility is matching up channels so I know what to expect.

By the way, it seems to be this and your QAM.INI tool could be combined in a slick way. Couldn't one take the scan results from the HDHomeRun, create a QAM.INI that only includes the unencrypted frequencies from it's results, and thereby greatly speed up the gbpvr scan and eliminate most or all of the useless encrypted channels from the gbpvr scan results?

Additionally, it's a pain scrolling through the huge EPG results in gbpvr to find the few clear QAM channels and enabling them (i.e. clicking the Enable checkbox). Could you provide an option to take the enabled channels in the HDHomeRun scan and enable them in gbpvr? I'm not sure if that's easy to do or not, but it seems like it would be useful.

Thanks again for all your hard work, not only with these utilities, but even moreso with your efforts to document and assist us fellow HDHomeRun users both here and in the Silicon Dust forums. You've saved people countless hours already, I'm sure.

[whurlston]

The utility actually does two things:

1. It matches the channels found in the HDHomeRun scan to the channels found in the GBPVR scan. This match is based on frequency and program number. If you save the scan cache file in the utility, this is all that will happen.
   
2. When you select "Map channels to Guide", it will retrieve the channel names for your EPG from the GBPVR database and then match what you entered in the HDHomeRun lineup configuration to those based on the "Guide Name" column.
   

I've been rethinking this and I have some ideas as to making it better including creating a custom qam.ini based only on the channels that you have enabled on the HDHomeRun lineup.

The reason a scan is needed in GBPVR as well is because the HDHomeRun scan does not supply the PID numbers that GBPVR needs for the video and audio portions of the tuning string.

[pcostanza]

Thanks for this tool Will. It worked great for HDHR in GBPVR which was giving me a few problems. However, because the scans for my ATI 650 and HVR1600 came up goose eggs in GBPVR, I wasn't able to map any of the channels for these tuners.
Just wanted you to know your work is appreciated.

[pcostanza]

Will, how do I copy the scan cache from one computer to another? Shouldn't it work if I get a good mapping for GBPVR on one system and use that to map in another system (with a different QAM tuner)? Where is the scan cache saved?

[whurlston]

Scan cache files are saved in "C:\Program Files\Devnz\GBPVR\BDA" and are named scan-X.cache where X is the GBPVR tuner ID. A better way to do it would be to use JavaWiz's BDA Migration Tool and save the channel mapping (.chn) file and use it on the other computer.

[Esteban]

Do you repeat the process for each of the two tuners?

[pcostanza]

Are you talking about the BDA migration tool? If so, yes, you have to 'Load' the saved channel scan for each tuner.

[Esteban]

5. For the "Guide Name" in the HDHomeRun Setup, enter the "Channel Name" from the GBPVR capture source configuration screen.

I don't understand this one? I don't see where I can enter anything like this in HDHomeRun Setup.
[/QUOTE]

[*]Enable the channels that you want to map and disable those that you don't.

As soon as I exit the capture sources window, all the enabled checkboxes become unchecked. I think that is why I get "Could not find an entry error ..." for every channel in the scan. So I end up with nothing.

[Esteban]

Are you talking about the BDA migration tool? If so, yes, you have to 'Load' the saved channel scan for each tuner.

I'm talking about the HDHomeRunScanTool. See first post in the thread. The reason I asked is because I get duplicate channels appended to my list whenever I edit my existing unenabled channels and map one. Just wondering if it is because I do it in both tuners.